OE sound system developed from PG sound system.

OE Word Stress/Accent:

fixed (can’t move either in form- or word-building and is usually placed on root or prefix);

dynamic (force, breath stress);

in Noun and Adjective stress was mainly on the prefix if there was one:

E.g. ‘misdæd (misdeed), ‘uðζenζ (escape), ‘oreald (very old)

in Verb stress was mainly on the root even if there was a prefix:

E.g. a’risan (arise), mis’faran (go astray)

stress served to distinguish Noun from Verb (and still does):

E.g. ‘andswaru (N answer) – and’swarian (V answer)

‘onζin (N beginning) – on’ζinnan (V begin)

E.g. (modern English) – ‘present – pre’sent; ‘ally – al’ly.